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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a telecommunications Service Control Point (SCP) having call blocking logic. More specifically, to an SCP having code blocking logic configured to block a first percentage of call attempts to a called number and route a second percentage of call attempts to the called number.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a telecommunications network, an SCP provides call handling information to devices in the network using call processing applications within the SCP. Some examples of call handling information provided by the SCP include toll free number routing information and calling card processing information. For instance, a telecommunications switch receives a call requiring call handling information to complete the call to a called number. Recognizing the need for the call handling information, the switch transmits a query message to the SCP. The SCP processes the query message and returns a response message containing the call handling information for the call. These query and response messages are typically Signaling System #7 (SS7) Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) protocol messages that are well known in the art.
It is a problem in the art of telecommunications to control call traffic during mass calling events. Some examples of mass calling events include concert ticket sales and call in contests. Without the ability to control this traffic, mass calling events can overload and crash an entire network. One solution to the problem is to perform call blocking in a telecommunications switch prior to querying the SCP for call handling information.
Presently, two forms of call blocking logic are implemented in switches. The first call blocking logic, commonly referred to in the art as xe2x80x9ccall gapping;xe2x80x9d blocks all call attempts to a called number during a time interval following a completed call. Upon expiration of the time interval the next call attempt is routed using normal processing logic and a new time interval is established. If no call attempts are processed during the time interval, the next call attempt following the expiration of the time interval is routed using normal processing logic and no calls are blocked. The network is prevented from overloading by ensuring that a minimum amount of time passes between each call connected to the called number.
The second call blocking logic, commonly referred to in the art as xe2x80x9ccode blocking,xe2x80x9d blocks a certain percentage of call attempts to a called number. For example, if fifty percent (50%) is established as the percentage of call attempts to be blocked, the switch will block 50% of the call attempts to the called number.
Unfortunately, call blocking in switches is inefficient and results in an increased demand on network maintenance and service. In the telecommunications network call blocking can be implemented in either a single switch or multiple switches throughout the network. If call blocking is implemented in a single switch, congestion results at the switch because the single switch must handle both call blocking and SCP querying for all call attempts during a mass calling event. Similarly, where call blocking is implemented in several or all switches throughout the network, resources that could be allocated to other operations are used for call blocking. This results in an increase in demand for network maintenance and services.
Yet another problem with call blocking logic in switches is that it is decentralized within the network. The decentralized call blocking logic prevents other services provided by the network from easily being integrated with the call blocking logic.
The present invention advances the art by providing an SCP with code blocking. Code blocking is a call blocking logic configured to block a percentage of call attempts to a called number and route a remaining percentage of call attempts to the called number. A first advantage of the present invention is that code blocking provides a means to limit call traffic on a specific called number to prevent network overload. A second advantage of the present invention is that the code blocking is centralized in an SCP. The centralized code blocking reduces system maintenance and services operations and facilitates implementation of code blocking throughout a telecommunications network. A third advantage of the present invention is that the percentage of blocked calls can be defined differently to accommodate different call volumes for the same or different mass calling events. A fourth advantage of the present invention is that code blocking is interfaced with other call processing applications allowing for the construction and homogeneous integration of entire services in an SCP
The present SCP comprises a processing system and an interface coupled to the processing system. The processing system is configured to process a plurality of query messages to generate a plurality of response messages containing call handling information for a plurality of call attempts to a called number. A first percentage of the call handling information includes instructions to block a corresponding first percentage of the plurality of call attempts to the called number. A second percentage of the call handling information includes instructions to route a corresponding second percentage of the plurality of call attempts to the called number. The interface is configured to receive the plurality of query messages and transmit the plurality of response messages.
In the context of the present invention the first, second, third, fourth, etc. connotations used to reference the messages, the calls, and the call handling information are used for the purpose of differentiating between different messages, calls, and call handling information and are not used to indicate a message sequence, call sequence or processing sequence. Also in the context of the present invention, blocking a call attempt to a called number is defined as automatically disconnecting the call or connecting the caller to a tone or announcement that indicates that the call is not being allowed. Routing a call to a called number is defined as instructing a communication device to connect the caller to one of a pre-determined or a dynamically determined call destination associated with the called number.